Uploaded on 2017-05-10 by Angie Ramon

Citizen Design Science Project 1. Think and comment on an existing Citizen Design Science project in urban design and planning from your area or country. As you said, it is not easy in such a short space of time developing a project of my own. However, I can examine some of the projects under way in Madrid and checking if CDS is being applied or it could be. First of all, as a lawyer with urban planning background, I shall apply CDS within the scope of decision processes in planning of urban areas and cities, taking a real case as a reference. For this purpose I have chosen the contest for remodeling “Plaza de España”, a project launched to a competition procedure by the Madrid Council and join participation of experts and citizens. The project have had three stages: a) In the first phase the Professional Jury should choose from among the projects submitted, five semi-finalists. Madrid citizen’s majority view counted as one vote in the Jury. The involvement of citizens was conducted through the municipal website. This could be a problem especially for old people or socially excluded people, who do not have internet access. It was also a difficulty having too little time to properly consider the documentation of seventy projects. But, in general, people involved has made some very important and pertinent observations thought without going into most technical details. b) In the second stage only the expert jury could vote to choose the two finalists between five derived from the previous stage. Citizen proposals expressed their preference for green and forested areas and a better integration into the surrounding. Experts dismissed those that showed a lack of awareness of the city climate including large grass areas and chose the two project which gave a more prominent role to pedestrians and cyclists, with more trees and offer the possibility of joint activities. c) The final decision was in the hand of citizens between these two alternatives without appeal and they chose the project entitled “Welcome mother nature, good by Mr. Ford”. This project consider to plant more than 1,000 trees to design a big green area connected with nearby green places as the Sabatini Gardens (Royal Palace) or Madrid-Rio, restrictions on the use of the private vehicle while maintaining the presence of public transport. These are the main issues on which citizen participation had insisted. Only a handful of citizens comment on budgetary or technical aspects. I think this was mainly because of the lack of time and an adequate explanation. That Charlene Jennett and Anna L. Cox call “Create interactive tutorials and videos” or “Provide feedback on progress” 2. Think and comment on the following example: Habitats of a certain neighborhood don’t feel safe when they walk in their neighborhood in the evening and during the night. You are working for the local government and want to solve this problem through improvement of the public spaces. How would you start-up a Citizen Design Science project? As the problem concerns only a part of the territory, the first step would be identify the area and surroundings and study from local government if there is objective causes which may explain the facts: street lighting, patrol routes of local police, conflictive establishments in the immediate vicinity, typology of family dwellings, etc. The generated conclusions of the study should be communicated to the neighbours through all kinds of communication channel: municipal web, associations in the zone, announcements in the media, service line for any queries etc. Communication should be accompanied by easy data the costs and consequences entailed of implementing the proposed measures. On the basis of the report, should be prepared and implemented a detailed survey that enables the neighbours to express their agreement or discrepancies with the conclusions and their experience or aspirations about the situation. The enquiry should be available for all neighbours concerned and provided by mail campaigns or via the Internet. After receiving the response from neighbouring city government should consider the general interests its own competencies to take the most appropriate actions to improve the security of neighbourhood. City council should also monitor to assure successful completion of implemented measures. 3. Imagine that you have set up a project wherein you would like to make use of Citizen Design Science. Which guidelines are important in creating your own Citizen Design Science project? I have used as a model two Spanish experiences – Alcobendas city council and Aragon regional government - that have developed in theory and in practice guidelines to successfully carry out its participative projects. The methodology used by Alcobendas can be summarized as follows: 1. Analyse and diagnose by the administrative department concerned. 2. Political decision about the process. 3. Design and crafting of participative process through the creation of a technical commission with the possibility of involving citizen representatives in the last stage and preparation of a specific information and communication plan. 4. Setting up neighbourhood spaces, by using instruments of general participation (observation, questionnaires, interview, discussion groups and documentation).and specific for the project. 5. Produce a report with accepted and rejected suggestions and inputs. 6. Elaborate a final report and to give back the results according to the information and communication plan. 7. Control and follow-up of the realization of the project. 8. Outcome evaluation with technical commission, neighbourhood spaces and participants in the project using instruments aforementioned. Aragon regional government includes the following phases: 1. Design of the proposal process 1.1. Making the need more visible: Share the issue contextualized and see which problems are solved by the project and clearly express an initial commitment. 1.2 On the basis of commitment: Build the participative process and prepare an early scenario by consensual agreement. 2. Participation Stage 2.1. Public presentation and information 2.2. Deliberation workshops. Discussions and outcomes 2.3. Political commitments. 2.4. Returns and undertakings presentation 2.5. Impact assessment of participation stage 3. Effects of participation process into public policy. Impact assessment and proposals for improvement. 4. Project monitoring and fulfilling undertakings. Communication and follow-up of their implementation.